“Do you know his daughter?” asked Decker.
“Kasimira? I’ve had some interactions, but I don’t know her all that well.”
“Still, what’s your opinion of her?” asked Decker.
“She makes a lot of money.”
“About her professionally?”
“She was with the Secret Service, so she knows what she’s doing. Her father was excellent at his work. She’s, well, she’s morebusinessoriented than he was. She’s nearly doubled the size of the firm just since she took over. That big office building in Miami? She bought that two years ago. Gamma has the top six floors and she rents out the rest. Makes a fortune just off that.”
Decker watched the man closely as he said all of this.Is Caine jealous of Roe? It sure sounds like it.
“Sounds like she’s a smart businesswoman,” observed White.
Caine said, “There’s more to life than money. She maybe needs to check her priorities.”
“Why do I never hear someone say that about a businessman?” said White.
“We need to search the judge’s chambers,” interjected Decker. “And talk to her secretary, clerks, anyone who might be able to help us.”
“I’ll take you,” said Caine, after glaring at White.
Chapter20
S?ARA ANGSTROM AND DAN SYKES,”said Caine, introducing the two people in their midtwenties. “The judge’s clerks for this term.”
They were in the anteroom of Cummins’s chambers.
Angstrom was tall, thin, and blond with pale skin and a dour expression. She was dressed in a dark jacket and slacks with a white blouse. Sykes was several inches shorter with a flabby build and black-rimmed glasses. His dark hair was longish, and he had a pen in his short-sleeved shirt pocket.
Decker looked them over and came away with a first impression of grief, then disbelief, and, finally, fear. They both said they had no idea of any recent threats against the judge.
“How about further back?” asked White.
Sykes said, “She presided over a RICO case about eight months ago. Local mobster with ties to a cartel in Mexico. Two of the defendants threatened her in open court.”
Caine said, “And we provided protection for her until the case was over and for two months after that. Then we reevaluated the risk and concluded it was no longer relevant.”
“They could have just gotten around to acting on their threat,” said Andrews.
White added, “We’ll need to see the case files and related documents.”
Sykes said, “Of course, whatever you need.”
Decker turned to Angstrom. “Any idea who might have been involved in this?”
Angstrom looked alarmed. “Me? No. I have no idea. I mean, there was nothing about Judge Cummins’s cases that was all that different from the other judges here.”
Caine said, “That’s true.”
“How many judges are there?” asked Decker.
Caine said, “Over a dozen active district court judges, the same number of senior judges and over two dozen magistrates.”
“And they’reallkept busy?” said White.
“The Middle District of Florida was created in 1962,” said Caine. “The first new federal district since the nineteen-twenties. It was done to alleviate the backlog of cases in the Southern District. Now the Middle District’s caseload is larger. It covers a broad swath of Florida, both coasts to the inland areas. Fort Myers, Tampa, Orlando, Ocala, and all the way north to Jacksonville. So, yes, they’re kept very busy.”